Connector

ABSTRACT

A tool holder having an upright standard and converging side arms connected to a horizontal plate. A clamp holds the standard on a tool bar. A pair of identical connectors mounted on the side arms carry brackets adapted to support earth working tools, as knives or discs. The connector has an upright passageway for the bracket. Transverse and longitudinal clamping bolts hold the bracket on the connector. One side of the connector has a longitudinal horizontal dovetail groove accommodating an arm. The groove extends at an angle to the longitudinal plane of the passageway. A clamping bolt holds the connector in fixed relation on the arm. The connector is reversible on either arm and is used to change the angular relationship between the arm and bracket.

1 1 June 18, 1974 United States Patent 1191 Eisenhardt 1 CONNECTOR [75] lnventor: Fred W. Eisenhardt, Fargo, N. Dak.

[73] Assignee: Alloway Manufacturing, lnc., Fargo,

N. Dak.

[22] Filed: Jan. 29, 1973 1211 Appl. No.: 327,739

[52] U.S. Cl. ..403/385 [51] Int. Cl....A0lb 15/02, AOlb 23/00, A01b/15/l2 [58] Field of Search 403/385, 389, 400, 390

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 823,340 6/1906 Lindgren 403/385 1,544,750 7/1925 Hawkins 403/385 3,157,415 11/1964 Martin 3,325,228 6/1967 Lien 403/385 X Primary Examiner-Geo. V. Larkin 1 5 7] ABSTRACT A tool holder having an upright standard and converging side arms connected to a horizontal plate. A clamp holds the standard on a tool bar. A pair of identical connectors mounted on the side arms carry brackets adapted to support earth working tools, as knives or discs. The connector has an upright passageway for the bracket. Transverse and longitudinal clamping bolts hold the bracket on the connector. One side of the connector has a longitudinal horizontal dovetail groove accommodating an arm. The groove extends at an angle to the longitudinal plane of the passageway. A clamping bolt holds the connector in fixed relation on the arm. The connector is reversible on either arm and is used to change the angular relationship between the arm and bracket.

11 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures a ia- .4

PAIENTEDJUNWHH 3.817.642

SHEET 20$ 2 BACKGROUND OF INVENTION Row crop cultivators have transverse tool bars carrying a plurality of tools to work the soil between the rows of crops. An example of a row crop cultivator is shown by Tonsfeldt in US. Pat. No. 3,680,648. Earthworking tools, as knives and discs, are mounted on a tool holder attached with a clamp to the tool bar. Tonsfeldt discloses in US. Pat. No. 3,693,725 a tool holder having an upright standard and converging mounting plates. A clamping member is attached to the mounting plates to carry the earthworking tools. Clamp members with different pitches are used to provide a change in the working angle or pitch of the earthworking tools. The clamp members also have configurations whereby the left member can only be mounted on the left mounting member and a right member can only be mounted on the right mounting member. Part of the clamp member is provided with a twist about a vertical axis to fix the angular working pitch of the earthworking tool. Once the pitch is fixed, it cannot be changed. In cultivating row crops, as sugar beets, small distances of the earthworking tools relative to the row crops are important. The tilting and lateral shifting of the earthworking tool is undesirable and results in constant checking and adjusting to insure proper alignment of the earthworking tools with the rows of crops. It is also desirable during the growing season to change the pitch or angle of the earthworking tool in accordance with growth of the crop.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION The invention relates to a connector for mounting a tool holding member on a tool holder. The tool holder has at least one generally horizontal arm having a downwardly inclined bottom. The connector has a body with an upright passage for accommodating a portion of the member. The member is held in a fixed position on the passage with a first means mounted on the body and in engagement with the member. The first means can be a captive nut held by the body and a bolt threaded through the nut and engageable with the member. The body has a longitudinal generally horizontal groove along one side of the body. The groove is defined by a generally upright back wall and upper and lower portions spaced from and extended adjacent the back wall. Each portion has an inclined inside face. The inclined faces are complementary to the inclined bottoms of the arms whereby the same connector can be mounted on both of the arms in inverted positions. The back wall is located along a plane which is angularly positioned relative to a plane through the passage. This angular relationship between the passage plane and the groove plane permits adjustment of the pitch of the earthworking tool by reversing the connector on the arm.

An object of the invention is to provide a one-piece member which can be used on both sides of a tool holder and in two positions on each side of the tool holder to mount a tool carrying member on the tool holder. A further object of the invention is to provide a connector for mounting a member on a tool holder which is longitudinally adjustable on each side of the tool holder. A further object of the invention is provide a connector which has lateral and longitudinal adjustment of the tool mounting member to insure precision adjustment of the tool mounting member. Still another object of the invention is to provide a connector which can be easily and economically manufactured without machining and which uses standard nut and bolt assemblies to attach the connector to a tool holder and a tool mounting member.

IN THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the tool holder and connector of the invention mounted on a tool bar;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 a reduced scale;

FIG. 3 is plan view of the connector of FIG. 1 in its first position;

FIG. 4 is a plan view similar to FIG. 3 showing the connector in its second or reverse position;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 66 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the back side of the connector of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown in FIG. 1 a tool holder indicated generally at 10 connected to a transverse tool bar 11 with a clamp 12. Clamp 12 is disclosed in US. Pat. application Ser. No. 176,169. The subject matter of this application is incorporated herein. A related clamp is shown in US. Pat. No. 3,642,333. Clamp 12 has a body 13 and a retaining member 14. A pair of bolts 16 and 18 carry nuts 17 and 19 respectively to clamp the body and retaining member 14 on the transverse tool bar 11. Tool bar 11 can have a diamond, square or T shape. Body 13 has a first pair of clamp means 21 and 22 and a second pair of clamp means 23 and 24 normally disposed with respect to the first pair of clamp means. The clamp means 21,22 and 23,24 engage an upright standard or shank 26 of the tool holder 10 which projects through an upright opening in the body.

The tool holder 10 has a generally horizontal base or plate 27. The lower end of standard 26 is secured by welds or the like to the midportion of the base 27. As shown in FIG. 2, the outer edges of base 27 converge toward each other in a forward direction. A pair of generally horizontal arms 28 and 29 are secured to the outer edges of base 27. The base 27 has rearwardly directed extensions 27A and 278 secured to the rear portions of arms 28 and 29 to reinforce these portions of the arms. The arms 28 and 29 converge at an angle of approximately 20 relative to each other. The arms 28 and 29 can be located at other angles.

Referring to FIG. 5, arm 28 has a generally flat top 31 and an upwardly and outwardly inclined bottom 32. The bottom terminates in a linear bottom edge 33. Arm 29 has identical structure.

Returning to FIGS. 1 and 2, connector 34 is mounted on arm 28. An identical connector 35 is mounted on arm 29. The following description is limited to connector 34 since the connectors 34 and 35 are identical in structure and use. The connectors are used to hold brackets 36. Brackets 36 extend in a generally downward direction and are adapted to support earthworking tools (not shown), as discs and weeder knives, as shown in US. Pat. No. 3,693,725. Conventional attaching structures, as nut and bolt assemblies and bearings, are used to connect earthworking tools to the lower portions of brackets 36. The lower portions of the brackets can be vertically offset.

Connector 34 has a one-piece body 37 of metal, preferably cast ductile metal. Body 37 has a generally upright rectangular passage 38 of a size which is slightly wider and longer than the cross section dimensions of bracket 36. The long dimension of passage 38 defines the longitudinal vertical plane of the passage.

Body 37 shown in FIG. has an upright back wall 39, a front or outside wall 41 joined to end walls 42 and 43, defining generally rectangular passage 38. Wall 41 has a transverse horizontal hole 44 having an inside cavity 46. Cavity 46 has a generally hexagonal shape to accommodate and captivate a nut 48. Bolt 47 is threaded through nut 48 and engages the bracket 36 to clamp the bracket 36 into engagement with wall 39.

Referring to FIG. 6, body 37 has a generally longitudinal hole 49 in wall 43. Hole 49 opens to a cavity 51. Cavity 51 has a generally hexagonal shape to accommodate and captiviate a nut 53. Bolt 52 threaded through nut 53 engages the edge of bracket 36, clamping the bracket into engagement with wall 42. Wall 42 has a horizontal hole 54 opening to a hexagonal shaped cavity 56. A nut and bolt holding means can be placed in hole 54 and cavity 56 to clamp the bracket into engagement with the wall 43.

Returning to FIG. 5, body 37 has a longitudinal dovetail groove 57 along one side of the body to accommodate the arm 28. Wall 39 is integral with a top longitudinal flange 58. Flange 58 has an upwardly and inwardly inclined face and a downwardly directed lip 61. Face 59 extends to a horizontal recess 62 separating wall 76 from face 59. Facing flange 58 is a bottom flange 63 having an upwardly and outwardly inclined face 64 joining an upwardly directed lip 66. Lip 66 faces the lip 61 and is vertically spaced therefrom a distance smaller than the height of arm 28. The lower portion of face 64 extends into a longitudinal recess 65 for accommodating the linear edge 33 of arm 29.

As shown in FIG. 7, lips 61 and 66 are separated from each other by recesses 68 and 74 respectively. The sides of recess 68 are spaced from each other to captivate a nut 71. A bolt 69 extended through a hole 67 is threaded through nut 71. The bolt 69 engages the top 31 of arm 28, forcing the beveled face 32 into engagement with the inclined surface 64. This wedges the outside face of arm 29 into firm engagement with upright wall 76, thereby fixing the position of connector 34 on the arm 28. The lower flange 63 has an upright hole 73 opening into a recess 74. A nut and bolt clamping assembly similar to the nut and bolt assembly 69,71 can be used with the hole 73 and recess 74 when the connector is in the inverted position.

Wall 76 extends in a linear direction in a longitudinal vertical plane at approximately 12 with respect to the longitudinal linear direction of the longitudinal vertical plane of passage 38 for bracket 36. Other angles between the groove plane and passage plane can be used in the connector. As shown in FIG. 3, the connector 34 is mounted on arm 28 so that the angle A is a converging angle whereby the longitudinal plane of the bracket 36 and the longitudinal plane of arm 28 converge in a rearward direction at an angle of approximately 12. This angle can vary from l0l5. Also, other angles can be used between the respective planes.

Referring to FIG. 4, the connector 34 is in an inverted position wherein the angle B diverges in a rearward direction whereby the horizontal plane of bracket 36 extends away from the horizontal plane of arm 28 in the rearward direction. This change in the angular position of bracket 36 relative to arm 36 changes the angular inclination or pitch of the earthworking tool attached to the lower portion of bracket 36. This change in the angular inclination of the earthworking tool can be made without the use of specially shaped brackets 36 nor the adjustment of separate parts. The connector 34, being a onepiece member, is used to accurately and positively hold the bracket in its selected angular position.

In use, tool holder 10 can be used for dual purposes. The earthworking discs similar to discs 13 and 14 shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,642,333 can be mounted on the front or leading portions of the arms 28 and 29. Connectors 34 and 35 are used to attach brackets 36 to the rear portions of arms 28 and 29. Weeder knives similar to knives 30 shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,725 can be attached to the lower portions of brackets 36. Alternatively, additional earthworking discs can be rotatably mounted on the lower portions of brackets 36. The bolts 47 and 52 are operable to clamp bracket 36 into a fixed postion with respect to the body 37 of the connector 34. Bracket 36 can be vertically adjusted, whereby the earthworking tool is at the desired position. Clamp 12 is also adjustable to change the earthworking positions of all the tools connected to the tool holder 10. Bolt 47 provides for side clamping of bracket 36. Bolt 52 functions to clamp the edge of bracket 36 whereby the bracket is held in position by both the longitudnal and transverseclamping forces.

The arm 29 is located in the dovetail groove 57. The connector 34 is longitudinally movable along the arm to a selected position. The bolt 71 is turned to clamp the lower inclined edge 32 of arm 29 into engagement with the edge 64. This forces the wall 76 of body 37 into flat engagement with the outside face of arm 29 and fixes the position of the connector 34 relative to arm 29.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the connector 34 is useable in upright or inverted positions to change the angular relationship of the bracket 36 relative to arm 28. Bracket 35, being identical with bracket 34, is also useable in inverted positions to change the angular relationship of bracket 36 relative to arm 28.

While there has been shown and described a tool holder and connector, it is understood that other types of tool holders can be used with the connector. The body 37 is preferably formed of a one-piece metal casting. It can be a welded member or made from other structural material, as reinforced plastic. Also, the angular relationship between wall 76 and passage 38 may be changed. It is understood that various other changes, substitutions and deletions may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows.

1. A connector for mounting a member on a tool holder, said tool holder having at least one generally horizontal arm, said arm having a downwardly inclined bottom comprising: a body having an upright passage for accommodating a portion of the member, first means on the body to hold the member in a fixed position relative to the body, said body having a longitudinal generally horizontal groove along one side of the body, said body having a generally upright back wall, and upper portion having an inclined inside face, and a lower portion having an inclined inside face defining said groove, said inclined bottom of the arm being in general surface engagement with one of the inclined inside faces when the connector is mounted on the arm, and second means on the body engageable with the arm to hold the body on the arm.

2. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the upper portion of the body is a flange having an upwardly inclined face and the lower portion of the body is a flange having a downwardly and inwardly inclined face.

3. The connector of claim 2 including: first lip means on the end of the flange on the upper portion and second lip means on the flange on the lower portion, said first lip means projected toward the second lip means and spaced from the second lip means.

4. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the body has recesses open to the passageway for non-rotatably retaining nuts and holes concentric with and open to said recesses, said first means comprising nuts located in said recesses and bolts extended through said holes, threaded into the nuts and engageable with the member.

5. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the first means comprises a first clamp bolt engageable with the member in a transverse direction and a second clamp bolt engageable member in a longitudinal direction.

6. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the body has a generally upright wall on one side of the passage, said wall extended in a general longitudinal direction, said back wall of the body extended in a general longitudinal direction at an angle to the upright wall.

7. The connector of claim 6 wherein: said angle is about 10 to 15.

8. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the passage has a generally rectangular shape and the first means comprises a first clamp bolt engageable with the member in a transverse direction and a second clamp bolt engageable member in a longitudinal direction.

9. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the second means is a clamp bolt engageable with the top of the arm.

10. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the upper and lower portions of the body have recesses for nonrotatably retaining nuts and holes concentric with and open to said recesses, said second means comprising a nut located in the recess in the upper portion and bolt extended through the hole in the upper portion and threaded through said nut into engagement with the top of the arm.

11. The connector of claim 10 wherein: the body has opposite end walls, a side wall and a back wall defining said passage, a pair of said recesses are in said opposite end walls and a third recess is in a side wall. 

1. A connector for mounting a member on a tool holder, said tool holder having at least one generally horizontal arm, said arm having a downwardly inclined bottom comprising: a body having an upright passage for accommodating a portion of the member, first means on the body to hold the member in a fixed position relative to the body, said body having a longitudinal generally horizontal groove along one side of the body, said body having a generally upright back wall, and upper portion having an inclined inside face, and a lower portion having an inclined inside face defining said groove, said inclined bottom of the arm being in general surface engagement with one of the inclined inside faces when the connector is mounted on the arm, and second means on the body engageable with the arm to hold the body on the arm.
 2. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the upper portion of the body is a flange having an upwardly inclined face and the lower portion of the body is a flange having a downwardly and inwardly inclined face.
 3. The connector of claim 2 including: first lip means on the end of the flange on the upper portion and second lip means on the flange on the lower portion, said first lip means projected toward the second lip means and spaced from the second lip means.
 4. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the body has recesses open to the passageway for non-rotatably retaining nuts and holes concentric with and open to said recesses, said first means comprising nuts located in said recesses and bolts extenDed through said holes, threaded into the nuts and engageable with the member.
 5. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the first means comprises a first clamp bolt engageable with the member in a transverse direction and a second clamp bolt engageable member in a longitudinal direction.
 6. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the body has a generally upright wall on one side of the passage, said wall extended in a general longitudinal direction, said back wall of the body extended in a general longitudinal direction at an angle to the upright wall.
 7. The connector of claim 6 wherein: said angle is about 10* to 15* .
 8. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the passage has a generally rectangular shape and the first means comprises a first clamp bolt engageable with the member in a transverse direction and a second clamp bolt engageable member in a longitudinal direction.
 9. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the second means is a clamp bolt engageable with the top of the arm.
 10. The connector of claim 1 wherein: the upper and lower portions of the body have recesses for non-rotatably retaining nuts and holes concentric with and open to said recesses, said second means comprising a nut located in the recess in the upper portion and bolt extended through the hole in the upper portion and threaded through said nut into engagement with the top of the arm.
 11. The connector of claim 10 wherein: the body has opposite end walls, a side wall and a back wall defining said passage, a pair of said recesses are in said opposite end walls and a third recess is in a side wall. 